Dry-cleaning apparatus



A. T. NEWMAN.

DRY CLEANING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION man SEPT. 11, ms.

Patented Aug. 9,19%.

ALBERT T. NEWMAN, 0F EMIPORIA, KANSAS.

DRY-CLEANING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 9, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT T. NEWMAN, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Emporia, in the county of Lyon and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dry-Cleaning Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to clothes renovating or cleaning apparatus and particularly to means for dry cleaning fabrics by forcing currents of air through the fabric when confined in a holder.

An object of this invention is to provide novel means for holding fabrics and means associated therewith and reciprocating with relation thereto for delivering air to the holder of the fabric and for forcing said air through the fabric so that said air is permitted to escape after it has passed through the fabric holder.

A further object of this invention is to provide novel air forcing means associated with air delivering means both of which are operated simultaneously.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists in the details of construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, wherein like characters denote correspond-- ing parts in the several views and in which- Figure 1 illustrates a vertical section; and

Fig. 2 illustrates a view in elevation of a fragment of the machine with the operating mechanism applied thereto.

In these drawings 5 denotes a casing, 6 the fabric holder which may be supported therein in any appropriate way, the said fabric holder having a foraminous bottom 7 through which air may pass after it has been forced through the meshes of the fabric. The casing supports a structure 8 on which cylinders 9 and 10 are mounted which have check valves 11 and 12 respectively to admit air to the cylinders and prevent escape of the said air.

The mechanism associated with each cylinder for forcing air to the interior of the casing is the same and a description of one will suflice as a description of both of said means.

In this embodiment of the invention, a

cylinder is provided with a piston 11 with an aperture 12 therein and the piston rod 13 is hollow and communicates with the interior of the cylinder through the aperture 12 of the piston. The hollow piston rod 13 has a jointed pipe 14 leading from it and communicating with a hollow pitman 15 by which air reaches the interior of the holder 6 since, as shown in the drawing, the hollow pitman extends through a pounder or piston like member 16 which reciprocates in the holder 6. The inner end of the pitman is guarded by a guard 17 which permits air to enter the holder and which prevents the escape of said air through the pitman. The upper end of the pitman is connected to an operating handle 18 which is mounted on a pivot 19 supported by the standard 20 and the handle may be manually operated or power may be applied to it in any suitable manner by connecting the power to the member 21. A convenient way for applying power to the device would be such as is disclosed in Patent 886,845, dated May 5, 1908, but as this means of driving or operating the mechanism does not form a part of the present invention, it need not, it is thought, he further shown in detail. The pitman is free to slide through the structure 8 but the joint between the pitman and the top of the structure 8 is not air tight; hence air forced through the clothes may escape at the top of the casing.

A check valve 22 is also provided at the upper end of the pitman so that the air is controlled to permit the escape of said air and the pitman is moved in one direction.

The pounder or piston like member 16 being hollow will carry a certain amount of air and confine it somewhat as the member is being reciprocated and this in itself will force air through the clothes in the container, but in addition to this provision, the under side of the said member is supplied with air by the pumps and the return of the air is prevented during the down stroke by the check valve.

The bottom of the clothes container 6 is slatted so that air may pass through the clothes and the air is relied upon to dislodge dirt from the clothes.

While this apparatus has been described as being intended for circulating air through fabric, it is to be understood that it can also be employed in connection with water applied to the receptacle so that water may be forced through the clothes and caused to rise and enter the holder 6 for further action of the piston on the said water, thereby insuring a circulation of water through the clothes, and this, associated with the air,

will also result in the washing action.

I claim In a cleaning apparatus, a casing, a holder for fabric, the said holder having a. foramlnous bottom, a pounder adapted to reciprocate with relation to the holder, a hollow pitman carrying the pounder and communicating with the interior thereof, means for pressed in the cylinders is delivered through thepitman to the holder, and valves for con trolling the passage ozf air through the pitman.

' Y ALB R T. NEWMAN. 

